For one in four grads, college wasn’t worth it, New York Fed calculates

As noted in a prior Capitol Report post, the New York Fed estimates the economic value of college degree at around $300,000 over the course of the average graduate’s career.

But that doesn’t mean college is a good investment for everyone. The New York Fed’s Jaison Abel and Richard Deitz have crunched more data. The annual wage for the 25th percentile of those with a bachelor’s degree, and that number sits closer to that of those with only a high school diploma, at below $30,000 per year.

That means one in four college grads are making about the same, or less, than the average high school graduate worker — all the while racking up student-loan debt.

“In fact, once the costs of attending college are considered, it is likely that earning a bachelor’s degree would not have been a good investment for many in the lowest 25% of college graduate wage earners,” the report says.

The authors point out though there is no way to be sure that those in the 25th percentile wouldn’t have earned even less had they not gone to college. Still, they note, “this pattern strongly suggests that the economic benefit of a college education is relatively small for at least a quarter of those graduating with a bachelor’s degree.”